Tea app says only 0.1% of users affected by breach – is it just the tip of the iceberg?

Tea Dating Advice, the “secure” platform for women to share sensitive information about their dates, has started sending breach notification letters a month after its much-publicized leak.

The female-only app, which asked for selfies to verify identities and allowed women to upload sensitive information on potentially troublesome men, has started filing breach notification letters to those affected by the hack discovered in July 2025.

The app, which was compromised by hackers twice, has said that only 4,244 people were affected by the breach – that’s only 0.1% of the over four million women who signed up.

Tea’s investigation into the event is likely ongoing, and the anonymous dating advice app is only beginning to scratch the surface of the breach.

The women’s only app revealed that those impacted by the hack may have had more than just their selfies compromised.

Tea revealed that the following personally identifiable information (PII) was also exposed:

• Dates of birth
• Driver's license numbers
• Passport numbers
• Government identification numbers

The information leaked could potentially be dangerous as attackers could use the document numbers and PII to commit identity theft, financial fraud, or launch personalized phishing attacks.

For example, attackers could try to set up fraudulent accounts in other people’s names – something that cybercriminals often do to hide illicit activities.

Have thoughts about this topic? Others do, too. Join them in the discussion.

Tea stated that “there are indications of unauthorized access to most or possibly all the records in the file storage location,” according to the breach notification.

If attackers had access to the entire database, it’s possible that they had access to more of Tea’s systems, not just this one.

As we know, hackers gained access to one of its “legacy data storage systems” filled with tens of thousands of images.

The system stored various images, including approximately 13,000 selfies and photos used for identifying new users, and around 59,000 images that were publicly available in the app.

However, 404 Media was told by an independent security researcher that it’s possible hackers could’ve accessed much more information, including messages discussing cheating partners, abortions, and other PII like phone numbers.

The app, which was previously taken down following the second breach, is a space where women can anonymously share information about men.

This includes sensitive information such as photos of men they’re interested in dating in order to catch catfishes, scammers, or even uncover cheating men.

Women could also do background checks to look for criminal records and even have access to a list of registered sex offenders.